NTL 250 intermittant cut outs for 12 months!

Skyclad1972 · 26-05-2006, 12:23

May 2005

Moved into a new property in RG6 area. Had a brand new installation of 1Mb service with a blue NTL 250 modem.

After 2 weeks the connection kept dropping. The only way to restore it was to unplug the modem and reconnect it. This happened at regular intervals ranging from every 5 mins to once or twice an hour.

We called an engineer who came along and installed a 10dB attenuator because the signal levels were out of line. All was well for a little while.......

July 2005

The problem started all over again - random disconnects occuring at any time of the day with the same problem. Doing an /ipconfig whilst the modem was "down" revealed it was still keeping its IP address but just dropping connection. We called another engineer.....who came and replaced the 10dB attenuator with a 4dB one. "Oh it's your signal mate..." with that he left.

August 2005

Things started up again at the end of August. After numerous calls to "Tech Support" I managed to get another Engineer booked.......but this one didn't turn up

September 2005

After more calls, more disconnects and more grey hairs, another Engineer graced us with his presence. This time he took off the attenuator, replaced the modem, ran some tests and assured us all would be well.

November 2005

The random disconnects were getting worse. I could barely surf for 5 mins at a time without the connection dropping. Called for another Engineer who came out, ran some tests and told us nothing was wrong and promptly left

December 2005

Called Tech Support again. By this time I can speak perfect Urdu. After screaming at the rep who was telling me "Your connection is perfectly fine Sir" I managed to get another Engineer callout. This engineer didn't turn up either.

January 2006

blah, blah, blah. Another Engineer and another 10db attenuator

February 2006

Another Engineer who removed the attenuator

April 2006

After many many many calls to Tech Support we got another engineer out. This simply shrugged his shoulders and said. "Oh well mate, there's nothing I can do - you're gonna have to put up with it"

In Summary.....

I've swapped out 2 Ethernet Cards and 2 RJ45 cables. Problem still occurs on the motherboards own network port

Swapped the motherboard when I upgraded PC - still happens

The problem occurs when connected to my laptop

The problem occurs on a FRESH install of Win XP, as well as fully patched SP2

The problem occurs with OR without my firewall

Signal levels ARE fine and stable

I am NOT getting a 169 pr 192 IP address. When the connection drops I still get my 82.xxx.xxx.xxx IP address

Checking the modem log I have had (wait for it) 1,746 of these disconnects.

PLEASE CAN ANYONE OFFER ANY ADVICE !! I am at a complete loss, as are Technical Support, several engineers and pretty much anyone I've spoken to. Oh and I wont start to mention the billing department who keep charging me random amounts each month for services I dont have !

Zee · 26-05-2006, 13:49

I've been having disconnections since October 2005, when i was on the 300K service, it was great, got great speeds from it and never got disconnected.

Tomorrow they're coming to hopefully swap my modem (ntl: 120) for a ntl: 250(?)

I've been told this sorts many 10Mbps connection and speed issues.

Saneboy13 · 26-05-2006, 20:28

Skyclad,

Has anyone bothered to ask you what your return path levels are from your modem?

Have a look please and post them on here. All of it, downstream levels and up please

SLM · 26-05-2006, 22:23

Or have you got the correct power converter on it should be made by OEM I think, if its connected to any other power source it can have adverse affects.